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Atheists turn to science during times of stress
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Laura Codorniú , Luis M. Chiappe , and Fabricio D. Cid
IF YOU’RE flying, it’s normally best to travel light, but one prehistoric flying reptile didn’t get the memo. It took to the skies with a cargo of gravel in its guts. The gravel-muncher in question is Pterodaustro guinazui, and it lived towards the end of the dinosaur era. While examining a new fossil of the species, Luis Chiappe of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and colleagues discovered that its abdomen contained 29 stones (see photo below), ranging from 1.5 to 8.4 millimetres across (Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, DOI: 10.1080/039.033.0508). P. guinazui is known as the reptilian version of the flamingo because its unusually long skull gave it a beak-like snout. It is also thought to have used its hundreds of long, thin teeth to filter morsels out of shallow water. Chiappe says the pterosaurs may have used the stones to help grind up the tiny crustaceans it ate. Again, this strategy is commonly seen in filter-feeding birds like flamingos. “This is a really special pterosaur,” says Lorna Steel of the Natural History Museum in London. Most species ate fish or insects, using sharp teeth to rip them apart, and would not have needed stomach stones. “This is probably unique to the filter-feeding pterosaurs.”
May Einstein and Darwin save us! When atheists get stressed IT IS well known that religious faith can help believers cope with stress, by providing them with a sense of meaning and control at times of uncertainty. It now seems that a “belief” in science and a rationalistic outlook might do the same for the non-religious. A team of psychologists led by Miguel Farias at the University of Oxford asked 52 rowers to fill in a “belief in science” questionnaire just before taking part in a competitive regatta. They gave the same test – in which participants had to score statements such as
“science is the most valuable part of human culture” – to rowers at a training session. The researchers also assessed stress levels and degree of religious belief. Farias and colleagues discovered that those about to race were both more stressed and rated their belief in science 14 per cent higher than those who were simply training (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, doi.org/msm). The effect was modest, but the findings reflect evidence that people find comfort in times of
threat by moving closer to certain aspects of their world view – conservatives become more conservative, for example, and religious believers more devout. Farias speculates that a rationalist outlook would provide similar relief. “Any kind of belief system helps you structure your perception of reality,” he says. “It allows you to think of the universe in a particular meaningful way.” He has begun a similar study using scientists who are religious to see how the two belief systems interact in response to stress. D. Parer & E. Parer-Cook/Minden Pictures/FLPA
Prehistoric flier had gravelly guts
Monkeys in other monkeys’ shoes MONKEYS may have a primitive version of the human ability to put ourselves in another’s shoes. Intelligent animals such as apes can intuit others’ intentions, suggesting they have some theory of mind capability. But only humans can reason that others may not hold their own beliefs. To study this difference, Rogier Mars of the University of Oxford and colleagues scanned 36 people’s brains. Using an algorithm, they created a map of how an area associated with theory of mind is connected to brain regions linked to abilities such as face recognition and interpretation. Next, the researchers scanned 12 macaque brains for a similar pattern of connections. An area involved in facial recognition had a similar pattern, suggesting involvement in abstract thought. That doesn’t necessarily mean the structures share a function, Mars says. Theory of mind is probably a spectrum of ways of thinking, he says, and humans got better at it as they evolved. Laurie Santos of Yale University says the structural differences may one day tell us why nonhuman primates lack the ability to think about others’ beliefs.
He who sings and dances wins EAT your heart out, Beyoncé. Even you can’t strut your stuff quite like the superb lyrebird. Already known for its singing, it also has a coordinated song-and-dance routine that puts many humans to shame. Superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) are the peacocks of Australia: the males have spectacular lyre-shaped tails, which they sashay as they woo females with a song. But it wasn’t until Anastasia Dalziell of the Australian National University in Canberra filmed 12 superb lyrebirds in the wild that an important element of their courtship emerged.
“Lyrebirds match dance choreographies to different types of songs,” she says. For instance, when singing a specific series of rapid notes, the males also stepped to the side and held their tails wide. Another song was accompanied by jumping and bobbing, with the tail held narrow (Current Biology, doi. org/msh). For a video of some routines, go to bit.ly/18aSNDX. It’s yet another example of an animal displaying a musical skill that was thought to be uniquely human, says Lawrence Parsons of the University of Sheffield, UK.
15 June 2013 | NewScientist | 19
Laura Codorniú , Luis M. Chiappe , and Fabricio D. Cid
IF YOU’RE flying, it’s normally best to travel light, but one prehistoric flying reptile didn’t get the memo. It took to the skies with a cargo of gravel in its guts. The gravel-muncher in question is Pterodaustro guinazui, and it lived towards the end of the dinosaur era. While examining a new fossil of the species, Luis Chiappe of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and colleagues discovered that its abdomen contained 29 stones (see photo below), ranging from 1.5 to 8.4 millimetres across (Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, DOI: 10.1080/039.033.0508). P. guinazui is known as the reptilian version of the flamingo because its unusually long skull gave it a beak-like snout. It is also thought to have used its hundreds of long, thin teeth to filter morsels out of shallow water. Chiappe says the pterosaurs may have used the stones to help grind up the tiny crustaceans it ate. Again, this strategy is commonly seen in filter-feeding birds like flamingos. “This is a really special pterosaur,” says Lorna Steel of the Natural History Museum in London. Most species ate fish or insects, using sharp teeth to rip them apart, and would not have needed stomach stones. “This is probably unique to the filter-feeding pterosaurs.”
May Einstein and Darwin save us! When atheists get stressed IT IS well known that religious faith can help believers cope with stress, by providing them with a sense of meaning and control at times of uncertainty. It now seems that a “belief” in science and a rationalistic outlook might do the same for the non-religious. A team of psychologists led by Miguel Farias at the University of Oxford asked 52 rowers to fill in a “belief in science” questionnaire just before taking part in a competitive regatta. They gave the same test – in which participants had to score statements such as
“science is the most valuable part of human culture” – to rowers at a training session. The researchers also assessed stress levels and degree of religious belief. Farias and colleagues discovered that those about to race were both more stressed and rated their belief in science 14 per cent higher than those who were simply training (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, doi.org/msm). The effect was modest, but the findings reflect evidence that people find comfort in times of
threat by moving closer to certain aspects of their world view – conservatives become more conservative, for example, and religious believers more devout. Farias speculates that a rationalist outlook would provide similar relief. “Any kind of belief system helps you structure your perception of reality,” he says. “It allows you to think of the universe in a particular meaningful way.” He has begun a similar study using scientists who are religious to see how the two belief systems interact in response to stress. D. Parer & E. Parer-Cook/Minden Pictures/FLPA
Prehistoric flier had gravelly guts
Monkeys in other monkeys’ shoes MONKEYS may have a primitive version of the human ability to put ourselves in another’s shoes. Intelligent animals such as apes can intuit others’ intentions, suggesting they have some theory of mind capability. But only humans can reason that others may not hold their own beliefs. To study this difference, Rogier Mars of the University of Oxford and colleagues scanned 36 people’s brains. Using an algorithm, they created a map of how an area associated with theory of mind is connected to brain regions linked to abilities such as face recognition and interpretation. Next, the researchers scanned 12 macaque brains for a similar pattern of connections. An area involved in facial recognition had a similar pattern, suggesting involvement in abstract thought. That doesn’t necessarily mean the structures share a function, Mars says. Theory of mind is probably a spectrum of ways of thinking, he says, and humans got better at it as they evolved. Laurie Santos of Yale University says the structural differences may one day tell us why nonhuman primates lack the ability to think about others’ beliefs.
He who sings and dances wins EAT your heart out, Beyoncé. Even you can’t strut your stuff quite like the superb lyrebird. Already known for its singing, it also has a coordinated song-and-dance routine that puts many humans to shame. Superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) are the peacocks of Australia: the males have spectacular lyre-shaped tails, which they sashay as they woo females with a song. But it wasn’t until Anastasia Dalziell of the Australian National University in Canberra filmed 12 superb lyrebirds in the wild that an important element of their courtship emerged.
“Lyrebirds match dance choreographies to different types of songs,” she says. For instance, when singing a specific series of rapid notes, the males also stepped to the side and held their tails wide. Another song was accompanied by jumping and bobbing, with the tail held narrow (Current Biology, doi. org/msh). For a video of some routines, go to bit.ly/18aSNDX. It’s yet another example of an animal displaying a musical skill that was thought to be uniquely human, says Lawrence Parsons of the University of Sheffield, UK.
15 June 2013 | NewScientist | 19